Sweet designer tweets - What luxury fashion stores say on Twitter
Thursday August 27, 2009 /
If you want to live and breathe fashion 24/7 then following some of the best fashion websites on Twitter is the way forward. Whether you’re looking for shopping inspiration or fashion do’s and don’ts, Twitter is leading the way in fashion interaction.
MY WARDROBE
http://www.my-wardrobe.com http://twitter.com/MyWardrobe
These tweets could be far more engaging. For a website that has so much to offer in the way of fashion clothing and accessories, My Wardrobe is really not selling itself as well as it could.
Tweets should be chatty and fun – these seem quite bland and often convoluted. It seems many tweeters write for the My Wardrobe Twitter and it lacks a coherent voice.
Followers: 950
NET-A-PORTER
http://www.net-a-porter.com/ http://twitter.com/Luxury_fashion
I can’t decide if Twitter is a good tool to use for Q&A sessions.
NET-A-PORTER frequently have expert fashion advisors answering questions live, but if you’re not taking part the tweets can be fairly confusing.
When they’re not having a Q&A the tweets are great – engaging, frequent and informative.
Of all the fashion twitters I found myself cliking back to the NET-A-PORTER website the most frequently.
Followers: 9,600
MATCHES
http://www.matchesfashion.com/ http://twitter.com/Matchesfashion
Matches stands out from the others, and it’s my personal favourite of the three.
Quirky and interesting links that not only go to the Matches website but also to other blogs, twitters and fashion sites.
The tweets are really chatty and informal, so I feel like I’m listening to an uber-friendly PR rather than a bored intern glued to the desk.
What works really well is using a different coloured font for the links, the only one out of the three to do so.
Very confused as to why they have the least followers.
Followers: 790
‘Sweet designer tweets - What luxury fashion stores say on Twitter’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
Digital magazines and e-books back in vogue for online fashion stores?
Wednesday August 26, 2009 /
Naming an online fashion store without a blog is becoming something of an impossibility. Now digital magazines and e-books seem to be coming back into vogue.
Lingerie retailer Mio Destino has just launched an e-book, with trend reports for A/W09 and designer interviews.
A/W09 E-Book from Mio Destino and Shudoo.co.uk’s Shoe Handbook
At Shudoo we produced a Summer Shoe Handbook(download here) which features The Telegraph’s Fashion Director Hilary Alexander, Radio 1 stylist Angela Buttolph and popular fashion bloggers.
Boohoo.com has also created an digital magazine for its visitors, as has Very.co.uk.
Boohoo.com and Very have digital magazines
Adili is now Ascension which reminds me of Accenture
Tuesday August 25, 2009 /
As we’re less than 10% of the fashion retail market it’s going to take a while before online only retailers become household names.
You don’t need me to tell you the ones that are almost there, but Adili was a brand that certainly had the potential.
The ethical clothing retailer is now called Ascension; named after the brand it acquired earlier this year.
Apparently part of the reason was to avoid confusion with grocery store Aldi (gaining more attention in the recession).
Ascension reminds me of Accenture, the management consulting company.
It’s an unusual name for a clothing brand and will take some getting used to.
Online stores need easy to spell names – could this be a costly mistake for Adili/Ascension or is it better to have done it before gaining more brand awareness?
ASOS Wikipedia. Does the ASOS.com Wiki read like an advert to you?
Monday August 24, 2009 /
You won’t find many online only retailers on Wikipedia – those that are include ASOS.
Problem is it’s close to being deleted. At the time of writing this the ASOS.com Wiki entry had that horrid ‘This article is written like an advertisement’ warning.
Once a brand or person achieves notoriety, which leads to being worthy of a Wiki entry, it can sometimes be a good idea to encourage users to build on a Wikipedia profile to ensure neutrality.
There’s no suggestion that the entry was written by ASOS staff or its associates; whenever a brand does write their own entry it is obvious to moderators and to readers.
Jamie Murray-Wells (founder of Glasses Direct who I interviewed here) actively encourages his customers to make changes to his personal Wikipedia entry - looks like that’s the way to do it.
Manchester Fashion Network - Trading Online Event August 25th
Sunday August 23, 2009 /
The London Fashion Network held a series of events in Kentish Town focused at online retail and blogging, two of which I chaired (getting noticed, merchandising, blogging).
Now it’s the turn of Manchester to host a beginners class to online retail at the Circle Club in Deansgate on August 25th.
Tickets are £8 and the panel includes CJ Brough from Blunt Communications, Usability expert Paul Rouke and Christina Barratt from Moonsparkonline.
Book your ticket here.
The Mulberry website is faultless. Simple and functional, like the bags
Wednesday August 19, 2009 /
As an online shopping experience it’s one of the best provided.
Firstly the site is clean and perfunctory, without being bland – the products, the sole focus (quite rightly) of the Shop Online page, have been beautifully shot.
Page and product loading is fast, and searching through the line-ups of products is smooth.
Mulberry has certainly accomplished its online shopping research, and is one of the easiest sites to navigate.
They have fantastic product detail – of the product as a whole, then the different materials used and “product advice” which shows different ways a certain bag or item can be utilised.
There is also a “material and care advice” section for each product.
Viewing is great too; they have the customary “magnify” but also a tool that allows the customer to see the product shot from a variety of angles.
This is instead of a 360-degree view window, and I can’t quite decide which I prefer.
Their lookbook is an absolute gem; the latest autumn and winter collections are there for browsing on an interactive book.
Once you decide on a product you like the look of, one click gives product detail and the opportunity to go straight to “buy online”.
It really couldn’t be more simple, or functional: much like the bags they sell.
‘The Mulberry website is faultless. Simple and functional, like the bags’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
The acceptable and unacceptable use of Flash in online fashion retail
Thursday August 13, 2009 /
Acceptable
Gorgeous Couture – rollover to see the back view of dresses, on category level
My-Wardrobe.com – links embedded within video content
Unacceptable
River Island – bad website (but good financial results!)
Charging for fashion content - the impact on affiliate revenue
Monday August 10, 2009 /
The websites of The Telegraph, Daily Mail, GMTV and Marie Claire, to name a few, use either ShopStyle or LynkU to power their branded shops.
Daily Mail’s online fashion shop
The publishing and media groups see online retail as a way of generating revenue by sharing affiliate commissions with the shopping aggregators.
You’ve probably heard that some publishing groups are looking to introducing pay walls, with users charged micro-payments for content.
If this happens it is likely there will be less visitors finding the publisher’s fashion content through search; leading to a reduced opportunity to direct people to a branded shop.
Less affiliate commission potential all round then? Not a problem for the publisher, if of course they end up making more money from charging users for content than driving online retail sales.
But it does matter to the aggregator, who needs the publisher to achieve reach.
It does matter to the online retailer, who sees conversions coming through from publishers.
And it does matter to the affiliate networks, for obvious reasons.
Drapers Online - Ask The Expert. Send your e-commerce question in today
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This month the focus is on E-Commerce for Ask The Expert on Drapers Online.
On the panel is myself, Fadi Shuman of Pod1, Steve Robinson of M and M Direct, Andy Francis of e-style and Jane Gleadall of Biglight.
Send your question in here at Drapers Online
Matthew Williamson Online
Tuesday August 04, 2009 /
Matthew Williamson’s Autumn/Winter collection is available online.
After launching his flagship store in Mayfair in 2004, the company has spread to West 14th Street in New York, and most recently in the Dubai Mall.
The designer’s profile is spreading, and surely the last frontier for mass appeal is trumping the worldwide web.
What a collection to launch online with: The Autumn/Winter is a distinctive shift for Williamson, “There is definitely a moving forward, or maturing of my collections. This sleeker look reflects the more sophisticated look of my customers” says Matthew.
It’s certainly an eloquent tribute to a colder climate with luxurious furs, bejewelled warrior-like eveningwear, and a rich palette of watermelon and Kingfisher blue.
The website is perfectly polite – easy to navigate, and each viewing item has alternative views and a “you may also like” section.
Collections are easy to view and don’t take forever to download, as well as enlarging immediately if you pause in the search.
I do like the website’s design, but I can’t help feeling that the collection looses some of it’s magic.
It might be the white backgrounds and rather stark contrasts, which are user friendly but slightly sterile.
‘Matthew Williamson Online’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
Kara Tointon and Michelle for George. Available to buy online?
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You can’t have escaped photos of Kara Tointon over the past few days in the new Michelle for George lingerie collection.
If you’ve read about it online (here, here and here) you’d expect to be able to buy it online.
At the time of writing this, the Michelle for George section on the George.com website shows Suzanne Shaw and the range she promoted.
No sign of the new collection modelled by Kara.
The majority of visits these articles will get is within the first few days – in this case, during that period the range hasn’t been available to buy online.
I think Asda George have been pioneering as a value online retailer (see my first Drapers blog about Asda George here), but they could have missed out on a lot of potential sales by not having the collection modelled by Kara available to buy.
Emap Brand Manager Antony Hawman is moving to My-Wardrobe.com
Monday August 03, 2009 /
Emap’s Commercial Brand Manager Antony Hawman will soon be taking up the role of Brand Partnerships Manager at online fashion retailer My-Wardrobe.com.
Antony was the creative head behind the very first Drapers Etail Awards earlier this year, and Retail Week’s 21st birthday party at Liberty.
He’s struck up a series of partnerships for Emap’s B2B publishing brands, including affiliating Drapers with the Fashion Business Club.
At My-Wardrobe.com, Antony, who featured alongside Lauretta Roberts in Online Fashion 100, will be responsible for creating tie-ups to develop increased brand awareness and drive traffic to the online designer retailer.
Antony is a great coup for My-Wardrobe.com and focusing its marketing strategy on partnerships is a canny decision as many brands which are complimentary will be seeking cost-effective ways to market themselves.
Drapers Blog: ‘Model vs Mannequin, which do you prefer?’
Wednesday July 29, 2009 /
Drapers Blog: ‘Improving your online shopping experience: Schway, iStylista and Empora’
Monday July 27, 2009 /
Hed Kandi teams up with Miss Selfridge for body con dresses
Wednesday July 22, 2009 /
I can’t believe no-one’s thought to do this before – the Hed Kandi ladies, those glamorous graphic body poppers should already be synonymous with Miss Selfridge: the concept is perfect.
The collection will be launched online on Monday, and available at Miss Selfridge stores. Those who register their interest online can buy a day before it goes into shops.
Graphics for the website surely won’t be an issue; Hed Kandi is one of the most fun, recognisable pop-culture peacocks, perfect for site design.
The website will be aiming for an interactive experience, and with a fairly small collection (10 dresses in total) this ought to give more scope for playful extras – catwalk shows, good soundtracks and a taste of Ibiza online.
Hed Kandi illustrator Jason Brooks will finally see his girls brought to life.
www.missselfridge.com/hedkandi
‘Hed Kandi teams up with Miss Selfridge for body con dresses’ by Amy Tipper-Hale
